Palestinian stabs Israeli in Jerusalem's Old City, shot dead: officials

Mar 18, 2018

The security guard was taken to hospital in serious condition suffering a stab wound to his torso, medics said.

PIC: Israeli security forces stand guard at the site of a stabbing attack carried out by a Palestinian assailant in Jerusalem's Old City on March 18, 2018. The Palestinian attacker injured a member of the Israeli security forces in the attack, before being shot dead by a policeman. (AFP)

JERUSALEM - A Palestinian stabbed and seriously wounded an Israeli security guard in Jerusalem's Old City on Sunday before being shot dead by a police officer, Israeli authorities said.

"Attacker with knife shot dead," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.

The security guard was taken to hospital in serious condition suffering a stab wound to his torso, medics said.

Various media reports claimed the assailant was a Turkish national, but Israel's Shin Bet domestic security service told AFP he was a Palestinian from the West Bank.

The attack comes after a Friday car ramming attack by a Palestinian near Jenin in the northern West Bank that killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded two others, according to the army.

Tensions were high after Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas called for a day of rage on Friday to commemorate 100 days since US President Donald Trump's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Palestinians also see the city as their capital and Trump's recognition broke with decades of US policy that Jerusalem's status would be negotiated between the parties.

At least 32 Palestinians and four Israelis have been killed since Trump's announcement, which set off major protests.

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